


New

by sageness



Category: Canadian 6 Degrees, Wilby Wonderful (2004)
Genre: Canon - Movie, M/M, Queer Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-01
Updated: 2006-02-01
Packaged: 2017-10-03 05:38:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sageness/pseuds/sageness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan doesn't have a new job yet. He can get a bank loan to reopen the video store if he wants to. He'll have to replace the inventory and fixtures and find a new space if he waits too long. He just doesn't know if he wants to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New

Val got half the proceeds of the house, but for one tense week it looked like everything was going to hell all over again, even though she was the one with all the years as an accountant. She was the one with all the money, and she didn't want to part with it. She wanted to punish him.

Val didn't change her mind until her attorney told her that she would have to file in Vancouver, where, unlike in Wilby, it was entirely possible the judge would award Dan palimony for abandonment by the bread-winning partner. Val settled, and he hasn't heard from her since.

Now, Dan has an apartment, a sofa, a chair, a TV, a DVD player and VCR, a small stereo, a bed, a chest of drawers, a nightstand, some lamps, and a coffee table. He hasn't furnished the dining area yet; he always eats on the couch anyway.

Duck comes over a lot. Duck comes over so much that there's a whole shelf in the medicine cabinet reserved for Duck's toothbrush, comb, razor, and hair gel. The hair gel arrived after the fourth month. It's been there seven weeks and gets used a couple of times a week, sometimes more.

Dan uses it sometimes, when he knows Duck has a big job and won't pop in in the middle of the day. He takes a dab in his palm and rubs it through his hair, making spikes that flop over into chunky curls. It reminds him of new wave bands from 1982, and that reminds him of college and how very strangely his life has turned out. Then he takes a shower.

Dan goes over to Duck's house, too, but not as often as Duck comes over to his place. Duck inherited the house after his mother died, decades ago. It's weathered gray clapboard, old and small with old, worn-out furniture. Duck's parents built it after the War, never expecting to have children. Duck calls himself a late-life surprise to them. Dan hears a note of resignation in his voice, like the house is a testament to years of not getting what he wanted.

It resonates. He doesn't ask why Duck doesn't sell it.

Dan doesn't have a new job yet. He can get a bank loan to reopen the video store if he wants to. He'll have to replace the inventory and fixtures and find a new space if he waits too long. He just doesn't know if he wants to.

It isn't an issue yet: he has his savings and his half of the investments. But…deep down, he's beginning to think he might like to try something different, something new. He just doesn't know what.

One Thursday Duck comes over after spending the day working in the center of town. He's fresh from the shower, but he still smells a little like paint and there's red and white stuck in the grooves around his fingernails.

"The Loyalist?" Dan asks.

Duck nods. "So I was thinking dinner and a movie?"

"Sounds good."

They make penne rustica because it's easy and they both like it. They sit on the sofa and watch _They Call Me Trinity_ together, and Dan tries not to let Duck catch him ogling Terence Hill.

As they finish dinner, Duck says, "I, um…I ran into Buddy today." He takes a bite, chews slowly, and says, "He told me to tell you that the police department's archives manager is retiring at the end of next month. He wants you to think about taking it over."

Dan goes still. The only thing more ironic than him going to work for the police would be if he were hired by the Sentinel.

Duck swallows his last bite of pasta. "Think it over. Buddy said it wouldn't be as fun as watching movies all day long, but you might like it." Dan nods noncommittally, and Duck says, with a lightning-fast grin, "You could read up on all of Wilby's dirty secrets, anyway."

Dan stifles a laugh. He could, at that.


End file.
